Repentance (The Darkness Series Book 4) Read Free Page A

had the dark, twisted pleasure of being the one to end her miserable life.  The depths he’d had to sink to in order to fulfill his mission disgusted him, but he wouldn’t change it or take any of it back.  Mila Stevenson was the devil incarnate, the world was better off without her and he’d never regret being the one to assassinate her.
    No, he wasn’t the least bit fucking sorry that he’d killed the woman that was responsible for the murder of his wife.  Hailey Ridley…she’d been like a firecracker.  A force to be reckoned with.  They’d been high school sweethearts and had married almost immediately after they’d graduated.  He used to count himself lucky every day that she even looked twice at him; their love story was an unorthodox one—she was the prettiest girl in school, he was the classic nerd.  Their life had been far from perfect, they had ups and downs just like everyone else.  But through it all, they stayed committed to each other; to the love that they shared. When she’d died, he’d died with her.  The Sam Ridley that had been her soulmate had ceased to exist.
    One of the hardest pills to swallow was the fact that that they’d been trying desperately to start a family.  Months after her death, he found out that she had in fact been pregnant.  It was obvious his boss and best friend at the time, Sheriff Brady James, had hidden that truth from him in an effort to spare him any more pain. It’d had the reverse effect on him, sending him in a maddening fit of rage.  He could only hope and pray that Hailey hadn’t been aware of that fact since the pregnancy was so early.
    Now, nine years later he was left with trying to build some semblance of a life for himself in the aftermath of what he’d done; what Mila had done.  The only reason he was granted early release was that he’d technically been working undercover for the Florida police department while he gathered intelligence on Mila.  Disobeying orders and playing his part too perfectly is what had led to him being charged, and later convicted, as an accessory in Mila and Bennett’s crimes.  The look of revulsion in Brady’s eyes when he realized the extent of just how far Sam’s involvement went is one that would never fade from his memory.  Every victim that fell at either Mila’s instruction or her hand was blood on his hands as well.  The day they’d let the doors swing shut on his steel cell was the day that he’d lost the last parts of him that made him Sam Ridley.  Now, he had no choice but to see if there was any chance of getting back a small piece of that lost man.
    The car rolled to a stop in front of a brown brick building and the cabbie turned to look at him expectantly.
    “Well, this is it, buddy.  It said on the manifest this was your destination.  Durham Heights Sheriff’s Department.  So, that’ll be $37.42. Plus tip,” he added.
    Sam nodded and absent-mindedly handed him a few bills.  “Keep the change,” he told him as he got out of the car.  He stared at the building, the place that used to mean so much to him.  Being a deputy used to bring him a sense of pride; now it seemed as though that life belonged in another time, to someone else.
    Taking a deep breath, he closed the gap between him and the department and pulled open the main door.  It was time to face his former best friend.

    S HERIFF BRADY JAMES took a long sip of his coffee before setting the mug down on his large oak desk.  “Dad, I’m bored,” Dane whined.  Brady glanced at his nine year-old son and sighed.  The kids had a day off from school and in an effort to give Gwyn a bit of a break from having to deal with Dane and their two year-old daughter, Tenley, he’d brought Dane into the office with him for the day.  A decision he was currently regretting as he was driving him slowly crazy with his constant complaining.
    “You said we could go for a ride in the cruiser, I want to see a crime scene. You promised,”